[An Nahar] A Russian judge has been fired after he caught 40 winks in court and then sentenced an outraged defendant to five years in prison.

Judge Yevgeny Makhno of Blagoveshchensk City Court in Russia's Far East was forced to resign Friday for obviously falling asleep several times while trying a businessman on charges of fraud.

The case became a national scandal after the defendant's lawyer posted several videos online of Makhno asleep in court. The videos were then shown on state television... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
Makhno claimed that he was not sleeping, but listening with his eyes closed, the reports said.

But since a higher court decided not to punish him, Makhno only has to take an exam to be reinstated.

[GIGAOM] SUMMARY: Researchers are creating software that analyzes 22 years of New York Times archives, Wikipedia and about 90 other web resources to predict future disease outbreaks, riots and deaths -- and hopefully prevent them.You can use the Rantburg archives to predict certain behaviors as well.

For instance, we know with 99 percent certainty that there will be a Karachi Korpse Kount on any particular day. The numbers might vary, but we can be sure the deaders will be stacked. Give it maybe a 90-95 percent chance that a portion of them (not just the heads, either) will be in Lyari.

We can predict that there will be no arrests of anyone associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistain. Give that a fat 99 percent, as well.

We can predict that in the course of a year at least one, maybe more than one, Saudi holy man will come out with a fatwa that's so abysmally stupid as to take your breath away. That's another 99 percent.

We can predict with similar 99.44 percent certainty that any country going through an Arab Spring will be targeted for takeover by the Moslem Brüderbund and by Salafists, 99 percent for either or, maybe 90 percent for both. And, yes, I include Yemen in that group. AQAP are Salafists.

How about economics? We can predict that any country that's going broke and needs to cut the dole will see people in the streets, hollering for their subsidies. Certainly a better than 95 percenter, I'd say.

I was taught in my very first Statistics course some 44 years ago that there are 3 classifications of Statistics:
1) Lies, damn lies and statistics
2) Figures don't lie, liars figure
3) Garbage in, garbage out.

Keep that trinity in mind and always demand to see the data and the alogrithms used to manipulate it.

A Saudi cleric has called for all female babies to be fully covered by wearing the face veil, commonly known as the burka, citing reports of little girls being sexually molested.

In a TV interview on the Islamic al-Majd TV, which seems to date back to mid-last year, Sheikh Abdullah Daoud, stressed that wearing the veil will protect baby girls. The Sheikh tried to back his assertion with claims of sexual molestation against babies in the kingdom, quoting unnamed medical and security sources.

Recently picked up on social media, Sheikh Dauods statement prompted wide condemnation from his fellow Saudis on Twitter. Some tweeps called for the Sheikh to be held accountable because his ruling denigrates Islam and breaches individual privacy.

Sheikh Mohammad al-Jzlana, former judge at the Saudi Board of Grievances, told Al Arabiya that Dauods ruling was denigrating to Islam and Shariah and made Islam look bad.

Jzlana urged people to ignore unregulated fatwas and explained that there are special regulations set by the Saudi authorities to administer religious edicts and appoint those who are entitled to issue them.

He said that he feels sad whenever he sees a family walking around with a veiled baby, describing that as injustice to children.

No, cutting the d**k off the bastards who molest babies (fer God's sake!) will do a much better job of protecting babies. Do the same for the assh*les who molest non-baby girls/women and eventually you may find some men who wish to keep their "equipment." Or not.

#4
Something to think about when you visit your local Dr. McCoy and sign the consent forms; somewhere in the fine print is your OK to release your information to 'others,' usually a long winded description that could include the local dog-catcher. Kinda kicks the patient Privacy Act to the curb.

"Required Disclosures. A covered entity must disclose protected health information in only two situations: (a) to individuals (or their personal representatives) specifically when they request access to, or an accounting of disclosures of, their protected health information; and (b) to HHS when it is undertaking a compliance investigation or review or enforcement action." Summary of the HIPAA Privacy Rule

you can request a list of all of those who have been granted access to your PHI. And if you didn't authorize it, well that is what lawyers are for.

Procopius2k,
Sigh. The Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Security Rules. You file a complaint with HHS' OCR, they investigate and if a criminal violation is deemed to have taken place, the case is turned over to DOJ for prosecution.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Edmund Burke

Or as commonly construed, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

#4
This is not trivial.
Could easily blow up into a big incident.
The new Japanese Gov't is taking the bull by the horns, even though China is retaliating by reducing Japanese imports. China will respond by taking the game up as notch.

#5
Again, iff China refuses to back down vee Japan + instead escalates, to avoid a LIMITED OR FULL-SCALE NUCLEAR CONFLICT POTUS Bammer may end up having to make significant unilateral concessions which NEITHER ORDINARY AMERICANS OR AMER'S OVERSEAS ALLIES WILL LIKE OR ACCEPT.

DAMAGE TO US CREDIBILITY = BAD FOR THE US BUT GOOD FOR ANTI-US OWG LEFTISTS-GLOBALISTS + ALIGNED.

In return for no US-China NucWar, China may demand ...
- Immediate handover of TAIWAN to mainland China - includ tote JSDF pullout from Yonaguni.
- Immediate handover of the Japanese Senkakus to mainland China.
- PLA Base rights on Okinawa, or in alternate the more pragmatic/likely DEMAND FOR TOTAL DEMILITARIZATION of Okinawa as per the US + JSDF. NO JSDF MILBASES OUTSIDE OF MAINLAND JAPAN PROPER.
- US FORCES AT SUBIC, CLARK AFB = NORTHERN PHIL???

Iff Histoire' is any measure, once China suddenly shockingly mysteriously starts shooting that "option" by Abe = Japan is only going to result in Japanese Civilians, albeit Govt. Employees. etc. getting massacred along wid any JSDF + CG the PLA finds in the area.

CHINA = WW2 JAPAN = INTERNATIONAL LAW + HUMANITARIANISM IS NO BARRIER/HINDRANCE TO A GOOD MASSACRE, espec when Beijing = WW2 Tokyo wants to make sure a message is clearly-n-concisely, but "politely" + "diplomatically",
"understood" by opposing Govt(s). ANY JSDF + CG SERVICEMEMBER ASSIGNED TO DUTY IN THE SENKAKUS/DIAOYUS NEEDS TO BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST - DIPLOATIC, MEDIA-CRITICIZING OF CHINA FOR MASSACRE IS ONLY GOING TO MAKE ANY FUTURE MASSACRE(S) BIGGER OR WORSE.

Perhaps more importantly, Super/Hyperpower America may have the Power, but does it have the right Leader in the person of POTUS Obama, i.e. a POTUS many Americans mistrust to truly serve-n-protect America's interests???

It will prove to be "fake" iff China backs down vee Japan + US in NE Asia, "real" iff China starts shooting. CHINA DOES STILL HAVE THE PROPOSED TRANS-REGIONAL RAILROAD + OIL-GAS PIPELINES GOING THROUGH CENTRAL ASIA + PERIPHERALS, BUT IT WILL HAVE SUCH WHETHER ITS A "POST-US", "WORLD #1" OR NOT.

In the end, China wants its "post-US" credibility = international recognition, as the One-N-Only Successor to America = Amerika.

[Ynet] Authorities in Turkey placed in durance vileI ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! three people in Istanbul and Ankara on Saturday in connection with Friday's suicide kaboom on the U.S. embassy in Ankara, state broadcaster TRT said.

A Turkish leftist group, the Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), said earlier it was responsible for the attack, which killed the bomber and a Turkish security guard.

[Pak Daily Times] Four more children died of measles in the city on Saturday as the number of deaths caused by the disease reached 18 -- out of them 10 belonged to Lahore. The children were under treatment at Gangaram and Children hospitals where they succumbed to the disease. They were identified as two-year-old Habib, two and a half years old Anam, six-year-old Zunaira and 10-month-
old Zainab.

The changes, which must be approved by President Pranab Mukherjee to become law, include doubling the minimum sentence for gang-rape and imposing the death penalty when the victim is killed or left in a vegetative state.

"We have taken swift action and hope these steps will make women feel safer in the country," Law Minister Ashwani Kumar told reporters late on Friday.

"This is a progressive piece of legislation and is consistent with the felt sensitivities of the nation in the aftermath of the outrageous gang-rape," he added.

The changes to the rape laws are expected to be approved by Mukherjee as early as this weekend but must be ratified by parliament or they will lapse.

Under the changes, the minimum sentence for gang-rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority will be doubled to 20 years from 10 and can be extended to life without parole.

Under the current law, a rapist faces a term of seven to 10 years.

The cabinet has also created a new set of offences such as voyeurism and stalking that will be included in the new law.

Delhi gang rape suspects plead not guilty

Meanwhile,...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... five men pleaded not guilty on Saturday in the New Delhi gang rape case.

A Reuters witness saw the men file into the court room with their faces covered, where lawyers in the case said they were read thirteen charges including murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death. They left after 15 minutes.

"After the judge read out the charges, the five pleaded not guilty and walked out," said AP Singh, a lawyer defending two of the accused, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.

Singh said the next hearing will be held on February 5, when the prosecution will call three witnesses to the formal start of the trial.

A sixth person police say was part of the gang that attacked the woman and her friend is a juvenile and will be tried separately.

Police say the gang lured the 23-year-old physiotherapy student onto a bus, where they repeatedly raped and assaulted her with a metal bar before throwing her bleeding onto a highway. She died of internal injuries two weeks later.

]Maan] A plan by the government to import fuel from Arab countries is still being considered despite that a feasibility study has not yet been prepared, says the head of the Paleostinian Petroleum Corporation.

Fuad al-Shubaki told Ma'an on Friday that contacts were made with companies in Jordan and the Gulf states, but there were no further follow up talks.

With regards to the current fuel price rise, he said the Paleostinian government shouldered a percentage of the price rise. "Benzene prices rose by 32 agorot, but the government raised the price by 15 agorot only. Similarly, diesel price rose by 15 agorot, but the government raised it by 5 agorot only.

"The government will cover the rest and that is expected to cost the treasury 4-5 million NIS a month in addition to 50 million NIS the government covers as a result of a previous rise in fuel prices."

Asked whether the plans to import fuel from Arab countries have been cancelled, he said the government held talks with Jordan, but the country does not have enough quantities.

He added that initial contacts have been made with Qatari and Saudi companies, but the Paleostinian government has not made a decision yet, neither has a feasibility study been made.

Al-Shubaki highlighted that the Israeli side was not contacted about the issue because the joint Paleostinian-Israeli committees have not been operating since the Paleostinian Authority obtained recognition of Paleostine as a non-member state in the UN. The Israeli side is expected to approve the move, he said.

Another initial agreement to install four pipelines to carry fuel from Israel to the West Bank and the Gazoo Strip has also been suspended because of the rupture in relations after the UN move.

Thus, he said, fuel is still delivered in trucks from Israel to the Paleostinian territory.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.